As expected, those drivers with recent Champ Car World Series experience annexed the best spots in first qualifying for the series' swansong.
Given the McDonalds car's past record at Long Beach, it was no surprise to see Justin Wilson take up where the F1-bound
Sebastien Bourdais left off after three years of domination with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
Despite having to give best to rookie Franck Montagny in the short second practice session, the Briton returned to the top of the pile when it mattered, securing the overnight pole by half a second from fellow veteran Oriol Servia.
“We felt that the McDonald's car was good, and I was very pleased with how it was handling, but we went out and did quite a quick time on the black tyres that still would have been good enough for pole," Wilson said, "We weren't sure what everyone else was doing down the pit-lane - we didn't get a good pit selection so we couldn't see - so we decided 'let's go and see what they're like'.
"I'm just very pleased to keep up the tradition of the McDonald's car being quickest. Before qualifying, I thought it's a bit of pressure taking over this seat at a track like this where Sebastien [Bourdais] has always gone so well, so I'm actually quite relieved to have done as well as we have today, and I think we can relax tomorrow.”
The Catalan was pushed harder for second spot, as Alex Tagliani belied his lack of open-wheel action so far this season to keep Derrick Walker's lone entry in the top three. The Canadian had been Wilson's closest challenger in the opening session of the day, but slipped to third after narrowly failing to overcome Servia's best.
“It's great to be here - three days before the trucks left for Long Beach we decided to do this," 'Tag' said, "We have a great car and the guys are working really hard. We had a great session, and had a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow.”
